Indiana Lawmakers Pushing Abortion 'Reversal' Bill

Republican lawmakers in Indiana are pushing a controversial bill that would promote "abortion pill reversal," the advertised effectiveness of which at least one major health organization has publicly challenged.

The Indiana House Public Policy Committee approved House Bill 1128 for the second time in two weeks on Feb. 21, notes the Indy Star.

If the bill were to become law, those who provide abortions would have to inform women about a scientifically unproven method to possibly "reverse" abortions that are done with pills, such as RU-486.

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An abortion "pill" is actually two pills -- mifepristone and misoprostol -- that women take over two to three days.

The "reversal" is a large dose of progesterone that women take before ingesting the second abortion pill. "Abortion pill reversal" has been widely promoted by Dr. George Delgado, who heads the Culture of Life Services in San Diego.

Delgado co-wrote a paper in 2012 in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy that said: "Four of 6 women who took mifepristone were able to carry their pregnancies to term after receiving intramuscular progesterone 200 mg."

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists referred to his paper when opposing "abortion reversal" on its website:

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A 2012 case series describes six women who took mifepristone and then had a series of progesterone injections. This paper describes a handful of experiences, these women received varying regimens of injected progesterone, and this was not a controlled study.

Therefore it does not provide evidence that progesterone was responsible for the reported outcomes. In addition, there was no oversight of an institutional review board or an ethical review committee for this intervention.

The ACOG concluded: "Claims of medication abortion reversal are not supported by the body of scientific evidence, and this approach is not recommended in ACOG’s clinical guidance on medication abortion. There are no ACOG guidelines that support this course of action."

Republican state Rep. Ronald Bacon of Indiana said that this bill is needed to give women information about the process of saving their pregnancy, reports the Indy Star.